Marking two decades of annual summits between India and Japan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held talks with his Japanese counterpart Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo, announcing a roadmap to deepen cooperation in trade, investment and emerging technologies.
The 15th India-Japan summit came shortly after PM Modi addressed the India-Japan Business Forum, where he stressed the transformative potential of the two countries’ partnership. “Japan’s technology and India’s talent together can lead the tech revolution of this century,” he declared.
During the summit, both sides are set to release a joint communique along with the “2035 Vision Statement”, upgrading the framework that PM Modi and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had announced a decade earlier. The new vision comes at a time when bilateral trade has touched USD 22 billion in 2023-24, while Japanese investments in India have crossed USD 43.2 billion.
At the India-Japan Joint Economic Forum, PM Modi highlighted India’s robust economic environment and cited figures from the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), noting that “80 per cent of Japanese companies operating in India express a desire to expand, and 75 per cent are already profitable”. He attributed this to reforms that have made India the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
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He added, “From Metro to manufacturing, from semiconductors to start-ups, India-Japan partnership in every sector became symbol of mutual trust.”
Hailing the strength of economic ties, Modi said, “The synergies across governments, businesses and people can create scale and speed in our economic partnership. As the world’s leading economies, we have been contributing to each other’s growth, competitiveness and dynamism.”
During his visit, Modi was also presented with a traditional Daruma doll by Rev Seishi Hirose, Chief Priest of the Shorinzan Daruma-Ji temple. The Ministry of External Affairs described the gesture as a reaffirmation of civilisational bonds rooted in the legacy of Bodhidharma, the Indian monk whose teachings shaped Japan’s Daruma tradition over a thousand years ago.
Former Japanese premiers Yoshihide Suga and Fumio Kishida also called on PM Modi, with discussions ranging from technology to artificial intelligence and investment opportunities.
The talks between PM Modi and Ishiba are expected to result in concrete outcomes in areas of trade, investment and strategic cooperation, building on the 20-year legacy of India-Japan summits that began in 2005 with the meeting between Junichiro Koizumi and Manmohan Singh.
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